Honeywell, Google Settle Lawsuit Over Nest Labs Thermostat
May 06 2016 - 12:10PM
Dow Jones News
Honeywell International Inc. has settled its patent dispute
regarding Google subsidiary Nest Labs, whose thermostats Honeywell
claimed infringed on several of its patents.
In a joint statement Thursday evening, Google parent Alphabet
Inc. and Honeywell said they had reached a "patent cross-license"
agreement that "fully resolves" the long-standing dispute between
Nest Labs and Honeywell. Other details of the settlement were
undisclosed.
Shares of Honeywell were down 0.3% to $113.25 in morning trading
in New York as Alphabet's stock rose 0.4% to $717.46.
Honeywell sued Nest Labs in 2012, saying the company's
thermostat infringed on seven of Honeywell's patents related to
thermostat technologies.
In 2014, Google paid $3.2 billion to buy startup Nest Labs as
part of a technology movement known as the Internet of Things,
which is adding sensors, computing and communications technology to
make everyday objects more useful.
The company's first product, introduced in late 2011, was a
hockey-puck-shaped thermostat that programs itself, based on how a
user changes the temperature. Using sensors, it also can detect
when there is no one in the home to lower energy use.
In the Honeywell lawsuit, which was filed in a U.S. District
Court in Minnesota, Honeywell claimed its patents are related to
simplified methods for operating and programming a thermostat,
including controlling a thermostat with information stored in a
remote location. The patents also are related to user interfaces
that facilitate programming and energy saving, according to
Honeywell.
The lawsuit sought to stop Nest Labs and retailer Best Buy Co.,
which sold the Nest Labs thermostat, from using Honeywell's
patented technology and to recover damages.
Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 06, 2016 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)
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